Managing Feature Licenses

CHAPTER 3 A license specifies the options that are enabled on a given ASA. It is represented by an activation key which is a 160-bit (5 32-bit words or 20 bytes) value. This value encodes the serial number (an 11 character string) and the enabled features. This chapter describes how to obtain an activation key and activate it. It also describes the available licenses for each model. This chapter includes the following sections: Supported Feature Licenses Per Model, page 3-1 Information About Feature Licenses, page 3-10 Guidelines and Limitations, page 3-18 Viewing Your Current License, page 3-19 Obtaining an Activation Key, page 3-21 Entering a New Activation Key, page 3-21 Upgrading the License for a Failover Pair, page 3-23 Configuring a Shared License, page 3-25 Feature History for Licensing, page 3-30 Supported Feature Licenses Per Model This section describes the licenses available for each model as well as important notes about licenses. This section includes the following topics: Licenses Per Model, page 3-1 License Notes, page 3-9 VPN License and Feature Compatibility, page 3-10 Licenses Per Model This section lists the feature licenses available for each model: ASA 5505, Table 3-1 on page 3-2 ASA 5510, Table 3-2 on page 3-3 ASA 5520, Table 3-3 on page 3-4 3-1

Supported Feature Licenses Per Model Chapter 3 ASA 5540, Table 3-4 on page 3-5 ASA 5550, Table 3-5 on page 3-6 ASA 5580, Table 3-6 on page 3-7 ASA 5585-X, Table 3-7 on page 3-8 Items that are in italics are separate, optional licenses with which that you can replace the Base or Security Plus license. You can mix and match licenses, for example, the 10 security context license plus the Strong Encryption license; or the 500 Clientless SSL VPN license plus the GTP/GPRS license; or all four licenses together. Table 3-1 ASA 5505 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features ASA 5505 Base License Security Plus Firewall Licenses Botnet Traffic Filter 1 Disabled Optional temporary license: Disabled Optional temporary license: Available Available Firewall Conns, Concurrent 10 K 25 K GTP/GPRS No support No support Unified Comm. Sessions 1 2 Optional license: 24 2 Optional license: 24 VPN Licenses 2 Adv. Endpoint Assessment Disabled Optional license: Available Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Essentials 1 Disabled Optional license: Available Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Mobile 1 Disabled Optional license: Available Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Premium SSL 2 Optional Permanent licenses: 2 Optional Permanent licenses: VPN (sessions) 1 10 25 10 25 IPSec VPN (sessions) 1 10 (max. 25 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) 25 (max. 25 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) VPN Load Balancing No support No support General Licenses Encryption Base (DES) Opt. lic.: Strong (3DES/AES) Base (DES) Opt. lic.: Strong (3DES/AES) Failover No support Active/Standby (no stateful failover) Security Contexts No support No support Users, concurrent 3 10 4 Optional licenses: 10 4 Optional licenses: 50 Unlimited 50 Unlimited VLANs/Zones, Maximum 3 (2 regular zones and 1 restricted zone) 20 VLAN Trunk, Maximum No support 8 trunks 1. See the License Notes section. 2. See the VPN License and Feature Compatibility section. 3. In routed mode, hosts on the inside (Business and Home VLANs) count towards the limit when they communicate with the outside (Internet VLAN), including when the inside initiates a connection to the outside as well as when the outside initiates a connection to the inside. Note that even when the outside initiates a connection to the inside, outside hosts are not counted towards the limit; only the inside hosts count. Hosts that initiate traffic between Business and Home are also not counted towards the limit. The interface associated with the default route is considered to be the outside Internet interface. If there is no default route, hosts on all interfaces are counted toward the limit. In transparent mode, the interface with the lowest number of hosts is counted towards the host limit. See the show local-host command to view host limits. 4. For a 10-user license, the max. DHCP clients is 32. For 50 users, the max. is 128. For unlimited users, the max. is 250, which is the max. for other models. 3-2

Chapter 3 Supported Feature Licenses Per Model Table 3-2 ASA 5510 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features ASA 5510 Base License Security Plus Firewall Licenses Botnet Traffic Filter 1 Disabled Optional temporary license: Disabled Optional temporary license: Available Available Firewall Conns, Concurrent 50 K 130 K GTP/GPRS No support No support Unified Comm. Sessions 1 2 Optional licenses: 2 Optional licenses: VPN Licenses 2 1. See the License Notes section. 24 50 100 24 50 100 Adv. Endpoint Assessment Disabled Optional license: Available Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Essentials 1 Disabled Optional license: Available Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Mobile 1 Disabled Optional license: Available Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Premium SSL 2 Optional Permanent licenses: 2 Optional Permanent licenses: VPN (sessions) 10 25 50 100 250 10 25 50 100 250 Optional Shared licenses: Participant or Server. For the Server, these licenses are available: 1 500-50,000 in increments of 500 50,000-545,000 in increments of 1000 2. See the VPN License and Feature Compatibility section. 3. Although the Ethernet 0/0 and 0/1 ports are Gigabit Ethernet, they are still identified as Ethernet in the software. Optional Shared licenses: Participant or Server. For the Server, these licenses are available: 1 500-50,000 in increments of 500 50,000-545,000 in increments of 1000 Optional FLEX license: 250 Optional FLEX license: 250 IPSec VPN (sessions) 1 250 (max. 250 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) 250 (max. 250 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) VPN Load Balancing 1 No support Supported General Licenses Encryption Base (DES) Opt. lic.: Strong (3DES/AES) Base (DES) Opt. lic.: Strong (3DES/AES) Failover No support Active/Standby or Active/Active 1 Interface Speed All: Fast Ethernet Ethernet 0/0 and 0/1: Gigabit Ethernet 3 Ethernet 0/2, 0/3, and 0/4: Fast Ethernet Security Contexts No support 2 Optional licenses: VLANs, Maximum 50 100 5 3-3

Supported Feature Licenses Per Model Chapter 3 Table 3-3 ASA 5520 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features ASA 5520 Base License Firewall Licenses Botnet Traffic Filter 1 Disabled Optional temporary license: Available Firewall Conns, Concurrent 280 K GTP/GPRS Disabled Optional license: Available Unified Communications 2 Optional licenses: Proxy Sessions 1 24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 VPN Licenses 2 Adv. Endpoint Assessment Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Essentials 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Mobile 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Premium SSL 2 Optional Permanent licenses: VPN (sessions) 10 25 50 100 250 500 750 Optional Shared licenses: Participant or Server. For the Server, these licenses are available: 1 500-50,000 in increments of 500 50,000-545,000 in increments of 1000 Optional FLEX licenses: 250 750 IPSec VPN (sessions) 1 750 (max. 750 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) VPN Load Balancing 1 Supported General Licenses Encryption Base (DES) Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES) Failover Active/Standby or Active/Active 1 Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 VLANs, Maximum 150 1. See the License Notes section. 2. See the VPN License and Feature Compatibility section. 3-4

Chapter 3 Supported Feature Licenses Per Model Table 3-4 ASA 5540 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features ASA 5540 Base License Firewall Licenses Botnet Traffic Filter 1 Disabled Optional temporary license: Available Firewall Conns, Concurrent 400 K GTP/GPRS Disabled Optional license: Available Unified Communications 2 Optional licenses: Proxy Sessions 1 24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 VPN Licenses 2 Adv. Endpoint Assessment Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Essentials 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Mobile 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Premium SSL 2 Optional Permanent licenses: VPN (sessions) 10 25 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2500 Optional Shared licenses: Participant or Server. For the Server, these licenses are available: 1 500-50,000 in increments of 500 50,000-545,000 in increments of 1000 Optional FLEX licenses: 250 750 1000 2500 IPSec VPN (sessions) 1 5000 (max. 5000 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) VPN Load Balancing 1 Supported General Licenses Encryption Base (DES) Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES) Failover Active/Standby or Active/Active 1 Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50 VLANs, Maximum 200 1. See the License Notes section. 2. See the VPN License and Feature Compatibility section. 3-5

Supported Feature Licenses Per Model Chapter 3 Table 3-5 ASA 5550 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features ASA 5550 Base License Firewall Licenses Botnet Traffic Filter 1 Disabled Optional temporary license: Available Firewall Conns, Concurrent 650 K GTP/GPRS Disabled Optional license: Available Unified Communications 2 Optional licenses: Proxy Sessions 1 24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 3000 VPN Licenses 2 Adv. Endpoint Assessment Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Essentials 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Mobile 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Premium SSL 2 Optional Permanent licenses: VPN (sessions) 10 25 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2500 5000 Optional Shared licenses: Participant or Server. For the Server, these licenses are available: 1 500-50,000 in increments of 500 50,000-545,000 in increments of 1000 Optional FLEX licenses: 250 750 1000 2500 5000 IPSec VPN (sessions) 1 5000 (max. 5000 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) VPN Load Balancing 1 Supported General Licenses Encryption Base (DES) Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES) Failover Active/Standby or Active/Active 1 Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50 VLANs, Maximum 250 1. See the License Notes section. 2. See the VPN License and Feature Compatibility section. 3-6

Chapter 3 Supported Feature Licenses Per Model Table 3-6 ASA 5580 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features ASA 5580 Base License Firewall Licenses Botnet Traffic Filter 1 Disabled Optional temporary license: Available Firewall Conns, Concurrent 5580-20: 1,000 K 5580-40: 2,000 K GTP/GPRS Disabled Optional license: Available Unified Communications 2 Optional licenses: Proxy Sessions 1 24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 3000 5000 10000 2 VPN Licenses 3 Adv. Endpoint Assessment Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Essentials 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Mobile 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Premium SSL 2 Optional Permanent licenses: VPN (sessions) 10 25 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2500 5000 Optional Shared licenses: Participant or Server. For the Server, these licenses are available: 1 500-50,000 in increments of 500 50,000-545,000 in increments of 1000 Optional FLEX licenses: 250 750 1000 2500 5000 IPSec VPN (sessions) 1 5000 (max. 5000 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) VPN Load Balancing 1 Supported General Licenses Encryption Base (DES) Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES) Failover Active/Standby or Active/Active 1 Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50 VLANs, Maximum 250 1. See the License Notes section. 2. With the 10,000-session license, the total combined sessions can be 10,000, but the maximum number of Phone Proxy sessions is 5000. 3. See the VPN License and Feature Compatibility section. 3-7

Supported Feature Licenses Per Model Chapter 3 Table 3-7 ASA 5585-X Adaptive Security Appliance License Features ASA 5585-X Base License Firewall Licenses Botnet Traffic Filter 1 Disabled Optional temporary license: Available Firewall Conns, Concurrent 5585-X with SSP-10: 750 K 5585-X with SSP-20: 1,000 K 5585-X with SSP-40: 2,000 K 5585-X with SSP-60: 2,000 K GTP/GPRS Disabled Optional license: Available Unified Communications 2 Optional licenses: Proxy Sessions 1 24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 3000 5000 10000 2 VPN Licenses 3 Adv. Endpoint Assessment Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Essentials 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Mobile 1 Disabled Optional license: Available AnyConnect Premium SSL 2 Optional Permanent licenses: VPN (sessions) 10 25 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2500 5000 10000 Optional Shared licenses: Participant or Server. For the Server, these licenses are available: 1 500-50,000 in increments of 500 50,000-545,000 in increments of 1000 Optional FLEX licenses: 250 750 1000 2500 5000 IPSec VPN (sessions) 1 5000 (max. 5000 combined IPSec and SSL VPN) VPN Load Balancing 1 Supported General Licenses Encryption Base (DES) Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES) Failover Active/Standby or Active/Active 1 10 GE I/O for SSP-10 and Disabled; fiber ifcs run at 1 GE Optional license: Available; fiber ifcs run at 10 GE SSP-20 4 Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50 VLANs, Maximum 250 1. See the License Notes section. 2. With the 10,000-session license, the total combined sessions can be 10,000, but the maximum number of Phone Proxy sessions is 5000. 3. See the VPN License and Feature Compatibility section. 4. The ASA 5585-X with SSP-40 and -60 support 10-Gigabit Ethernet speeds by default. 3-8

Chapter 3 Supported Feature Licenses Per Model License Notes Table 3-8 lists footnotes for the tables in the Licenses Per Model section on page 3-1. Table 3-8 License Notes License Active/Active failover AnyConnect Essentials AnyConnect Mobile AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN Shared Botnet Traffic Filter Encryption Combined IPSec and SSL VPN sessions Notes You cannot use Active/Active failover and VPN; if you want to use VPN, use Active/Standby failover. This license enables AnyConnect VPN client access to the adaptive security appliance. This license does not support deploy browser-based SSL VPN access or Cisco Secure Desktop. For these features, activate an AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN license instead of the AnyConnect Essentials license. Note With the AnyConnect Essentials license, VPN users can use a Web browser to log in, and download and start (WebLaunch) the AnyConnect client. The AnyConnect client software offers the same set of client features, whether it is enabled by this license or an AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN license. The AnyConnect Essentials license cannot be active at the same time as the following licenses on a given adaptive security appliance: AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN license (all types) or the Advanced Endpoint Assessment license. You can, however, run AnyConnect Essentials and AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN licenses on different adaptive security appliances in the same network. By default, the ASA uses the AnyConnect Essentials license, but you can disable it to use other licenses by using the no anyconnect-essentials command. This license provides access to the AnyConnect Client for touch-screen mobile devices running Windows Mobile 5.0, 6.0, and 6.1. We recommend using this license if you want to support mobile access to AnyConnect 2.3 and later versions. This license requires activation of one of the following licenses to specify the total number SSL VPN sessions permitted: AnyConnect Essentials or AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN. A shared license lets the ASA act as a shared license server for multiple client ASAs. The shared license pool is large, but the maximum number of sessions used by each individual ASA cannot exceed the maximum number listed for permanent licenses. Requires a Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) License to download the dynamic database. The DES license cannot be disabled. If you have the 3DES license installed, DES is still available. To prevent the use of DES when you want to only use strong encryption, be sure to configure any relevant commands to use only string encryption. Although the maximum IPSec and SSL VPN sessions add up to more than the maximum VPN sessions, the combined sessions should not exceed the VPN session limit. If you exceed the maximum VPN sessions, you can overload the ASA, so be sure to size your network appropriately. If you start a clientless SSL VPN session and then start an AnyConnect client session from the portal, 1 session is used in total. However, if you start the AnyConnect client first (from a standalone client, for example) and then log into the clientless SSL VPN portal, then 2 sessions are used. 3-9

Information About Feature Licenses Chapter 3 Table 3-8 License Notes License Unified Communications Proxy sessions Notes Phone Proxy, Mobility Advantage Proxy, Presence Federation Proxy, and TLS Proxy are all licensed under the UC Proxy umbrella, and can be mixed and matched. For example, if you configure a phone with a primary and backup Cisco Unified Communications Manager, there are 2 TLS/SRTP connections, so 2 UC Proxy sessions are used. Note In Version 8.2(2) and later, Mobility Advantage Proxy no longer requires the UC Proxy license. VPN load balancing Requires a Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) License. VPN License and Feature Compatibility Table 3-9 shows how the VPN licenses and features can combine. Table 3-9 VPN License and Feature Compatibility Enable one of the following licenses: 1 Supported with: AnyConnect Essentials AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN AnyConnect Mobile Yes Yes Advanced Endpoint Assessment No Yes AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN Shared No Yes Client-based SSL VPN Yes Yes Browser-based (clientless) SSL VPN No Yes IPsec VPN Yes Yes VPN Load Balancing Yes Yes Cisco Secure Desktop No Yes 1. You can only have one license type active, either the AnyConnect Essentials license or the AnyConnect Premium license. By default, the ASA includes an AnyConnect Premium license for 2 sessions. If you install the AnyConnect Essentials license, then it is used by default. See the no anyconnect-essentials command to enable the Premium license instead. Information About Feature Licenses A license specifies the options that are enabled on a given ASA. It is represented by an activation key that is a 160-bit (5 32-bit words or 20 bytes) value. This value encodes the serial number (an 11 character string) and the enabled features. This section includes the following topics: Preinstalled License, page 3-11 Temporary, VPN Flex, and Evaluation Licenses, page 3-11 3-10

Chapter 3 Information About Feature Licenses Shared Licenses, page 3-13 Licenses FAQ, page 3-17 Preinstalled License By default, your ASA ships with a license already installed. This license might be the Base License, to which you want to add more licenses, or it might already have all of your licenses installed, depending on what you ordered and what your vendor installed for you. See the Viewing Your Current License section on page 3-19 section to determine which licenses you have installed. Temporary, VPN Flex, and Evaluation Licenses In addition to permanent licenses, you can purchase a temporary license or receive an evaluation license that has a time-limit. For example, you might buy a VPN Flex license to handle short-term surges in the number of concurrent SSL VPN users, or you might order a Botnet Traffic Filter temporary license that is valid for 1 year. This section includes the following topics: How the Temporary License Timer Works, page 3-11 How Multiple Licenses Interact, page 3-11 Failover and Temporary Licenses, page 3-13 How the Temporary License Timer Works The timer for the temporary license starts counting down when you activate it on the ASA. If you stop using the temporary license before it times out, for example you activate a permanent license or a different temporary license, then the timer halts. The timer only starts again when you reactivate the temporary license. If the temporary license is active, and you shut down the ASA, then the timer continues to count down. If you intend to leave the ASA in a shut down state for an extended period of time, then you should activate the permanent license before you shut down to preserve the temporary license. When a temporary license expires, the next time you reload the ASA, the permanent license is used; you are not forced to perform a reload immediately when the license expires. Note We suggest you do not change the system clock after you install the temporary license. If you set the clock to be a later date, then if you reload, the ASA checks the system clock against the original installation time, and assumes that more time has passed than has actually been used. If you set the clock back, and the actual running time is greater than the time between the original installation time and the system clock, then the license immediately expires after a reload. How Multiple Licenses Interact When you activate a temporary license, then features from both permanent and temporary licenses are merged to form the running license. Note that the ASA only uses the highest value from each license for each feature; the values are not added together. The ASA displays any resolved conflicts 3-11

Information About Feature Licenses Chapter 3 between the licenses when you enter a temporary activation key. In the rare circumstance that a temporary license has lower capability than the permanent license, the permanent license values are used. When you activate a permanent license, it overwrites the currently-running permanent and temporary licenses and becomes the running license. Note If you install a new permanent license, and it is a downgrade from the temporary license, then you need to reload the ASA to disable the temporary license and restore the permanent license. Until you reload, the temporary license continues to count down. If you reactivate the already installed permanent license, you do not need to reload the ASA; the temporary license does not continue to count down, and there is no disruption of traffic. To reenable the features of the temporary license if you later activate a permanent license, simply reenter the temporary activation key. For a license upgrade, you do not need to reload. To switch to a different temporary license, enter the new activation key; the new license is used instead of the old temporary license and combines with the permanent license to create a new running license. The ASA can have multiple temporary licenses installed; but only one is active at any given time. See the following figure for examples of permanent and VPN Flex activation keys, and how they interact. Figure 3-1 Permanent and VPN Flex Activation Keys Permanent Key VPN Flex Key Merged Key 1. Base + 10 SSL conns + 25 SSL conns = Base + 25 SSL conns Merged Key Permanent Key + Base + 10 SSL conns Permanent Key Base + 10 SSL conns 2. Base + 25 SSL conns = Permanent Key Evaluation Key + 50 contexts Merged Key Base + 10 SSL conns + 50 contexts New Merged Key Base + 25 SSL conns 3. Base + 10 SSL conns = Merged Key Base + 10 SSL conns + 4. 50 contexts VPN Flex Key + 25 SSL conns = 251137 1. In example 1 in the above figure, you apply a temporary key with 25 SSL sessions; because the VPN Flex value is greater than the permanent key value of 10 sessions, the resulting running key is a merged key that uses the VPN Flex value of 25 sessions, and not a combined total of 35 sessions. 2. In example 2 above, the merged key from example 1 is replaced by the permanent key, and the VPN Flex license is disabled. The running key defaults to the permanent key value of 10 sessions. 3. In example 3 above, an evaluation license including 50 contexts is applied to the permanent key, so the resulting running key is a merged key that includes all the features of the permanent key plus the 50 context license. 4. In example 4 above, the merged key from example 3 has the VPN Flex key applied. Because the ASA can only use one temporary key at a time, the VPN flex key replaces the evaluation key, so the end result is the same as the merged key from example 1. 3-12

Chapter 3 Information About Feature Licenses Failover and Temporary Licenses With failover, identical licenses are required. For failover purposes, temporary and permanent licenses appear to be identical, so you can have a permanent license on one unit and a temporary license on the other unit. This functionality is useful in an emergency situation; for example, if one of your units fails, and you have an extra unit, you can install the extra unit while the other one is repaired. If you do not normally use the extra unit for SSL VPN, then a VPN Flex license is a perfect solution while the other unit is being repaired. Because the temporary license continues to count down for as long as it is activated on a failover unit, we do not recommend using a temporary license in a permanent failover installation; when the temporary license expires, failover will no longer work. Shared Licenses A shared license lets you purchase a large number of SSL VPN sessions and share the sessions as needed amongst a group of ASAs by configuring one of the ASAs as a shared licensing server, and the rest as shared licensing participants. This section describes how a shared license works, and includes the following topics: Information About the Shared Licensing Server and Participants, page 3-13 Communication Issues Between Participant and Server, page 3-14 Information About the Shared Licensing Backup Server, page 3-14 Failover and Shared Licenses, page 3-15 Maximum Number of Participants, page 3-16 Information About the Shared Licensing Server and Participants The following steps describe how shared licenses operate: 1. Decide which ASA should be the shared licensing server, and purchase the shared licensing server license using that device serial number. 2. Decide which ASAs should be shared licensing participants, including the shared licensing backup server, and obtain a shared licensing participant license for each device, using each device serial number. 3. (Optional) Designate a second ASA as a shared licensing backup server. You can only specify one backup server. Note The shared licensing backup server only needs a participant license. 4. Configure a shared secret on the shared licensing server; any participants with the shared secret can use the shared license. 5. When you configure the ASA as a participant, it registers with the shared licensing server by sending information about itself, including the local license and model information. Note The participant needs to be able to communicate with the server over the IP network; it does not have to be on the same subnet. 3-13

Information About Feature Licenses Chapter 3 6. The shared licensing server responds with information about how often the participant should poll the server. 7. When a participant uses up the sessions of the local license, it sends a request to the shared licensing server for additional sessions in 50-session increments. 8. The shared licensing server responds with a shared license. The total sessions used by a participant cannot exceed the maximum sessions for the platform model. Note The shared licensing server can also participate in the shared license pool. It does not need a participant license as well as the server license to participate. a. If there are not enough sessions left in the shared license pool for the participant, then the server responds with as many sessions as available. b. The participant continues to send refresh messages requesting more sessions until the server can adequately fulfill the request. 9. When the load is reduced on a participant, it sends a message to the server to release the shared sessions. Note The ASA uses SSL between the server and participant to encrypt all communications. Communication Issues Between Participant and Server See the following guidelines for communication issues between the participant and server: If a participant fails to send a refresh after 3 times the refresh interval, then the server releases the sessions back into the shared license pool. If the participant cannot reach the license server to send the refresh, then the participant can continue to use the shared license it received from the server for up to 24 hours. If the participant is still not able to communicate with a license server after 24 hours, then the participant releases the shared license, even if it still needs the sessions. The participant leaves existing connections established, but cannot accept new connections beyond the license limit. If a participant reconnects with the server before 24 hours expires, but after the server expired the participant sessions, then the participant needs to send a new request for the sessions; the server responds with as many sessions as can be reassigned to that participant. Information About the Shared Licensing Backup Server The shared licensing backup server must register successfully with the main shared licensing server before it can take on the backup role. When it registers, the main shared licensing server syncs server settings as well as the shared license information with the backup, including a list of registered participants and the current license usage. The main server and backup server sync the data at 10 second intervals. After the initial sync, the backup server can successfully perform backup duties, even after a reload. When the main server goes down, the backup server takes over server operation. The backup server can operate for up to 30 continuous days, after which the backup server stops issuing sessions to participants, and existing sessions time out. Be sure to reinstate the main server within that 30-day period. Critical-level syslog messages are sent at 15 days, and again at 30 days. 3-14

Chapter 3 Information About Feature Licenses When the main server comes back up, it syncs with the backup server, and then takes over server operation. When the backup server is not active, it acts as a regular participant of the main shared licensing server. Note When you first launch the main shared licensing server, the backup server can only operate independently for 5 days. The operational limit increases day-by-day, until 30 days is reached. Also, if the main server later goes down for any length of time, the backup server operational limit decrements day-by-day. When the main server comes back up, the backup server starts to increment again day-by-day. For example, if the main server is down for 20 days, with the backup server active during that time, then the backup server will only have a 10-day limit left over. The backup server recharges up to the maximum 30 days after 20 more days as an inactive backup. This recharging function is implemented to discourage misuse of the shared license. Failover and Shared Licenses Failover and Shared License Servers This section describes how shared licenses interact with failover, and includes the following topics: Failover and Shared License Servers section on page 3-15 Failover and Shared License Participants section on page 3-16 This section describes how the main server and backup server interact with failover. Because the shared licensing server is also performing normal duties as the ASA, including performing functions such as being a VPN gateway and firewall, then you might need to configure failover for the main and backup shared licensing servers for increased reliability. Note The backup server mechanism is separate from, but compatible with, failover. Shared licenses are supported only in single context mode, so Active/Active failover is not supported. Both main shared licensing server units in the failover pair need to have the same license. So if you purchase a 10,000 session shared license for the primary main server unit, you must also purchase a 10,000 session shared license for the standby main server unit. Because the standby unit does not pass traffic when it is in a standby state, the total number of sessions remains at 10,000 in this example, not a combined 20,000 sessions. For Active/Standby failover, the primary unit acts as the main shared licensing server, and the standby unit acts as the main shared licensing server after failover; because both units need to have the same license, both units can act as the main licensing server. The standby unit does not act as the backup shared licensing server. Instead, you can have a second pair of units acting as the backup server, if desired. For example, you have a network with 2 failover pairs. Pair #1 includes the main licensing server. Pair #2 includes the backup server. When the primary unit from Pair #1 goes down, the standby unit immediately becomes the new main licensing server. The backup server from Pair #2 never gets used. Only if both units in Pair #1 go down does the backup server in Pair #2 come into use as the shared licensing server. If Pair #1 remains down, and the primary unit in Pair #2 goes down, then the standby unit in Pair #2 comes into use as the shared licensing server (see Figure 3-2). 3-15

Information About Feature Licenses Chapter 3 Figure 3-2 Failover and Shared License Servers Key Blue=Shared license server in use (Active)=Active failover unit Failover Pair #1 Failover Pair #2 1. Normal operation: Main (Active) Main (Standby) Backup (Active) Backup (Standby) Failover Pair #1 Failover Pair #2 2. Primary main server fails over: Main (Failed) Main (Active) Backup (Active) Backup (Standby) Failover Pair #1 Failover Pair #2 3. Both main servers fail: Main (Failed) Main (Failed) Backup (Active) Backup (Standby) Failover Pair #1 Failover Pair #2 4. Both main servers and primary backup fail: Main (Failed) Main (Failed) Backup (Failed) Backup (Active) 251356 Failover and Shared License Participants The standby backup server shares the same operating limits as the primary backup server; if the standby unit becomes active, it continues counting down where the primary unit left off. See the Information About the Shared Licensing Backup Server section on page 3-14 for more information. For participant pairs, both units register with the shared licensing server using separate participant IDs. The active unit syncs its participant ID with the standby unit. The standby unit uses this ID to generate a transfer request when it switches to the active role. This transfer request is used to move the shared sessions from the previously active unit to the new active unit. Maximum Number of Participants The ASA does not limit the number of participants for the shared license; however, a very large shared network could potentially affect the performance on the licensing server. In this case, you can increase the delay between participant refreshes, or you can create two shared networks. 3-16

Chapter 3 Information About Feature Licenses Licenses FAQ Q. Can I activate multiple temporary licenses, for example, VPN Flex and Botnet Traffic Filter? A. No. You can only use one temporary license at a time. The last license you activate is the one in use. In the case of evaluation licenses that group multiple features into one activation key, then multiple features are supported at the same time. But temporary licenses for sale by Cisco are limited to one feature per activation key. Q. Can I stack temporary licenses so that when the time limit runs out, it will automatically use the next license? A. No. You can install multiple temporary licenses, but only the last activated license is active. When the active license expires, you need to manually activate the new one. Be sure to activate it shortly before the old one expires so you do not lose functionality. (Any remaining time on the old license remains unused; for example, if you use 10 months of a 12-month license, and activate a new 12-month license, then the remaining 2 months of the first license goes unused unless you later reactivate it. We recommend that you activate the new license as close as possible to the end of the old license to maximize the license usage.) Q. Can I install a new permanent license while maintaining an active temporary license? A. No. The temporary license will be deactivated when you apply a permanent license. You have to activate the permanent license, and then reactivate the temporary license to be able to use the new permanent license along with the temporary license. This will cause temporary loss of functionality for the features reliant on the temporary license. Q. For failover, can I use a shared licensing server as the primary unit, and the shared licensing backup server as the secondary unit? A. No. The secondary unit must also have a shared licensing server license. The backup server, which has a participant license, can be in a separate failover pair of two backup servers. Q. Do I need to buy the same licenses for the secondary unit in a failover pair? Even for a shared licensing server? A. Yes. Both units need the same licenses. For a shared licensing server, you need to buy the same shared licensing server license for both units. Note: In Active/Standby failover, for licenses that specify the number of sessions, the sessions for both units are not added to each other; only the active unit sessions can be used. For example, for a shared SSL VPN license, you need to purchase a 10,000 user session for both the active and the standby unit; the total number of sessions is 10,000, not 20,000 combined. Q. Can I use a VPN Flex or permanent SSL VPN license in addition to a shared SSL VPN license? A. Yes. The shared license is used only after the sessions from the locally installed license (VPN Flex or permanent) are used up. Note: On the shared licensing server, the permanent SSL VPN license is not used; you can however use a VPN Flex license at the same time as the shared licensing server license. In this case, the VPN Flex license sessions are available for local SSL VPN sessions only; they cannot be added to the shared licensing pool for use by participants. 3-17

Guidelines and Limitations Chapter 3 Guidelines and Limitations See the following guidelines for activation keys. Context Mode Guidelines In multiple context mode, apply the activation key in the system execution space. Shared licenses are not supported in multiple context mode. Firewall Mode Guidelines All license types are available in both routed and transparent mode. Failover Guidelines You must have the same licenses activated on the primary and secondary units. Note For failover purposes, there is no distinction between permanent and temporary licenses as long as the feature set is the same between the two units. See the Failover and Temporary Licenses section on page 3-13 for more information. Shared licenses are not supported in Active/Active mode. See the Failover and Shared Licenses section on page 3-15 for more information. Upgrade Guidelines Your activation key remains compatible if you upgrade to Version 8.2 or later, and also if you later downgrade. After you upgrade, if you activate additional feature licenses that were introduced before 8.2, then the activation key continues to be compatible with earlier versions if you downgrade. However if you activate feature licenses that were introduced in 8.2 or later, then the activation key is not backwards compatible. If you have an incompatible license key, then see the following guidelines: If you previously entered an activation key in an earlier version, then the ASA uses that key (without any of the new licenses you activated in Version 8.2 or later). If you have a new system and do not have an earlier activation key, then you need to request a new activation key compatible with the earlier version. Additional Guidelines and Limitations The activation key is not stored in your configuration file; it is stored as a hidden file in Flash memory. The activation key is tied to the serial number of the device. Feature licenses cannot be transferred between devices (except in the case of a hardware failure). If you have to replace your device due to a hardware failure and it is covered with Cisco TAC, contact the Cisco Licensing Team to have your existing license transferred to the new serial number. The Cisco Licensing Team will ask for the Product Authorization Key reference number and existing serial number. Once purchased, you cannot return a license for a refund or for an upgraded license. You cannot add two separate licenses for the same feature together; for example, if you purchase a 25-session SSL VPN license, and later purchase a 50-session license, you cannot use 75 sessions; you can use a maximum of 50 sessions. (You may be able to purchase a larger license at an upgrade price, for example from 25 sessions to 75 sessions; this kind of upgrade should be distinguished from adding two separate licenses together). 3-18

Chapter 3 Viewing Your Current License Although you can activate all license types, some features are incompatible with each other; for example, multiple context mode and VPN. In the case of the AnyConnect Essentials license, the license is incompatible with the following licenses: full SSL VPN license, shared SSL VPN license, and Advanced Endpoint Assessment license. By default, the AnyConnect Essentials license is used instead of the above licenses, but you can disable the AnyConnect Essentials license in the configuration to restore use of the other licenses using the no anyconnect-essentials command. Viewing Your Current License Detailed Steps This section describes how to view your current license, and for temporary activation keys, how much time the license has left. Command show activation-key detail hostname# show activation-key detail Purpose Shows the installed licenses, including information about temporary licenses. Examples The following is sample output from the show activation-key detail command that shows a permanent activation license with 2 SSL VPN peers (in bold), an active temporary license with 5000 SSL VPN peers (in bold), the merged running license with the SSL VPN peers taken from the temporary license (in bold), and also the activation keys for inactive temporary licenses: hostname# show activation-key detail Serial Number: JMX0916L0Z4 Permanent Flash Activation Key: 0xf412675d 0x48a446bc 0x8c532580 0xb000b8c4 0xcc21f48e Licensed features for this platform: Maximum Physical Interfaces : Unlimited Maximum VLANs : 200 Inside Hosts : Unlimited Failover : Active/Active VPN-DES : Enabled VPN-3DES-AES : Enabled Security Contexts : 2 GTP/GPRS : Disabled VPN Peers : 2 SSL VPN Peers : 2 Total VPN Peers : 250 Shared License : Enabled Shared SSL VPN Peers : 5000 AnyConnect for Mobile : Disabled AnyConnect for Linksys phone : Disabled AnyConnect Essentials : Disabled Advanced Endpoint Assessment : Disabled UC Phone Proxy Sessions : 24 Total UC Proxy Sessions : 24 Botnet Traffic Filter : Enabled 3-19

Viewing Your Current License Chapter 3 Temporary Flash Activation Key: 0xcb0367ce 0x700dd51d 0xd57b98e3 0x6ebcf553 0x0b058aac Licensed features for this platform: Maximum Physical Interfaces : Unlimited Maximum VLANs : 200 Inside Hosts : Unlimited Failover : Active/Active VPN-DES : Enabled VPN-3DES-AES : Enabled Security Contexts : 2 GTP/GPRS : Disabled SSL VPN Peers : 5000 Total VPN Peers : 250 Shared License : Enabled Shared SSL VPN Peers : 10000 AnyConnect for Mobile : Disabled AnyConnect for Linksys phone : Disabled AnyConnect Essentials : Disabled Advanced Endpoint Assessment : Disabled UC Phone Proxy Sessions : 24 Total UC Proxy Sessions : 24 Botnet Traffic Filter : Enabled This is a time-based license that will expire in 27 day(s). Running Activation Key: 0xcb0367ce 0x700dd51d 0xd57b98e3 0x6ebcf553 0x0b058aac Licensed features for this platform: Maximum Physical Interfaces : Unlimited Maximum VLANs : 200 Inside Hosts : Unlimited Failover : Active/Active VPN-DES : Enabled VPN-3DES-AES : Enabled Security Contexts : 2 GTP/GPRS : Disabled SSL VPN Peers : 5000 Total VPN Peers : 250 Shared License : Enabled Shared SSL VPN Peers : 10000 AnyConnect for Mobile : Disabled AnyConnect for Linksys phone : Disabled AnyConnect Essentials : Disabled Advanced Endpoint Assessment : Disabled UC Phone Proxy Sessions : 24 Total UC Proxy Sessions : 24 Botnet Traffic Filter : Enabled This platform has an ASA 5540 VPN Premium license. This is a Shared SSL VPN License server. This is a time-based license that will expire in 27 day(s). The flash activation key is the SAME as the running key. Non-active temporary keys: Time left ------------------------------------------------------------------ 0x2a53d6 0xfc087bfe 0x691b94fb 0x73dc8bf3 0xcc028ca2 28 day(s) 0xa13a46c2 0x7c10ec8d 0xad8a2257 0x5ec0ab7f 0x86221397 27 day(s) 3-20

Chapter 3 Obtaining an Activation Key Obtaining an Activation Key To obtain an activation key, you need a Product Authorization Key, which you can purchase from your Cisco account representative. You need to purchase a separate Product Activation Key for each feature license. For example, if you have the Base License, you can purchase separate keys for Advanced Endpoint Assessment and for additional SSL VPN sessions. Note For a failover pair, you need separate activation keys for each unit. Make sure the licenses included in the keys are the same for both units. After obtaining the Product Authorization Keys, register them on Cisco.com by performing the following steps: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Obtain the serial number for your ASA by entering the following command. hostname# show activation-key If you are not already registered with Cisco.com, create an account. Go to the following licensing website: http://www.cisco.com/go/license Enter the following information, when prompted: Product Authorization Key (if you have multiple keys, enter one of the keys first. You have to enter each key as a separate process.) The serial number of your ASA Your email address An activation key is automatically generated and sent to the email address that you provide. This key includes all features you have registered so far for permanent licenses. For VPN Flex licenses, each license has a separate activation key. If you have additional Product Authorization Keys, repeat Step 4 for each Product Authorization Key. After you enter all of the Product Authorization Keys, the final activation key provided includes all of the permanent features you registered. Entering a New Activation Key Prerequisites This section describes how to enter a new activation key. Before entering the activation key, ensure that the image in Flash memory and the running image are the same by entering the show activation-key command. You can do this by reloading the ASA before entering the new activation key. If you are already in multiple context mode, enter the activation key in the system execution space. Some licenses require you to reload the ASA after you activate them. Table 3-10 lists the licenses that require reloading. 3-21

Entering a New Activation Key Chapter 3 Table 3-10 License Reloading Requirements Model ASA 5505 and ASA 5510 All models All models License Action Requiring Reload Changing between the Base and Security Plus license. Changing the Encryption license. Downgrading any license (for example, going from 10 contexts to 2 contexts). Note If a temporary license expires, and the permanent license is a downgrade, then you do not need to immediately reload the ASA; the next time you reload, the permanent license is restored. Limitations and Restrictions Detailed Steps Your activation key remains compatible if you upgrade to Version 8.2 or later, and also if you later downgrade. After you upgrade, if you activate additional feature licenses that were introduced before 8.2, then the activation key continues to be compatible with earlier versions if you downgrade. However if you activate feature licenses that were introduced in 8.2 or later, then the activation key is not backwards compatible. If you have an incompatible license key, then see the following guidelines: If you previously entered an activation key in an earlier version, then the ASA uses that key (without any of the new licenses you activated in Version 8.2 or later). If you have a new system and do not have an earlier activation key, then you need to request a new activation key compatible with the earlier version. Step 1 Step 2 Command activation-key key hostname# activation-key 0xd11b3d48 0xa80a4c0a 0x48e0fd1c 0xb0443480 0x843fc490 reload hostname# reload Purpose Applies an activation key to the ASA. The key is a five-element hexadecimal string with one space between each element. The leading 0x specifier is optional; all values are assumed to be hexadecimal. You can enter one permanent key, and multiple temporary keys. The last temporary key entered is the active one. See the Temporary, VPN Flex, and Evaluation Licenses section on page 3-11 for more information. To change the running activation key, enter the activation-key command with a new key value. (Might be required.) Reloads the ASA. Some licenses require you to reload the ASA after entering the new activation key. See Table 3-10 on page 3-22 for a list of licenses that need reloading. If you need to reload, you will see the following message: WARNING: The running activation key was not updated with the requested key. The flash activation key was updated with the requested key, and will become active after the next reload. 3-22

Chapter 3 Upgrading the License for a Failover Pair Upgrading the License for a Failover Pair If you need to upgrade the license on a failover pair, you might have some amount of downtime depending on whether the license requires a reload. See Table 3-10 on page 3-22 for more information about licenses requiring a reload. This section includes the following topics: Upgrading the License for a Failover (No Reload Required), page 3-23 Upgrading the License for a Failover (Reload Required), page 3-24 Upgrading the License for a Failover (No Reload Required) Prerequisites Detailed Steps Use the following procedure if your new license does not require you to reload. See Table 3-10 on page 3-22 for more information about licenses requiring a reload. This procedure ensures that there is no downtime. Before you upgrade the license, be sure that both units are operating correctly, the Failover LAN interface is up, and there is not an imminent failover event; for example, monitored interfaces are operating normally. On each unit, enter the show failover command to view the failover status and the monitored interface status. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Command On the active unit: no failover active(config)# no failover activation-key key active(config)# activation-key 0xd11b3d48 0xa80a4c0a 0x48e0fd1c 0xb0443480 0x843fc490 On the standby unit: activation-key key standby# activation-key 0xc125727f 0x903de1ee 0x8c838928 0x92dc84d4 0x003a2ba0 On the active unit: failover active(config)# failover Purpose Disables failover on the active unit. The standby unit remains in a pseudo-standby state. Deactivating failover on the active unit prevents the standby unit from attempting to become active during the period when the licenses do not match. Installs the new license on the active unit. Make sure this license is for the active unit serial number. Installs the new license on the standby unit. Make sure this license is for the standby unit serial number. Reenables failover. 3-23